I will follow up on what Deputy Lawless said about people coming into assets after a period of time. I do not think it is going to be overnight, as such. There have been studies, some of which are actually quite offensive, in which homeless people have been given money. I have seen this in the United States. One guy got in the region of $500,000 and it was gone within six months. There are, therefore, issues. If people are not used to handling money or other assets, there has to be some sort of process tied into th…

I support the Bill. In terms of the general debate, we had the discussion already on Second Stage in terms of having everything put together in one piece of legislation and I will not go back into that. There has been a lobby coming through about the flavours and the suggestion that people will go back to smoking tobacco. I suppose the key point to make there is they are already used to the tobacco taste and smell, so why would it make them go back? I take on board what Deputy Rice said about menthol because we alr…

Ar dtús, tá sé soiléir go raibh imní mhór ag go leor daoine an bhliain seo caite nuair a chonaiceamar ciorruithe ar chiste teanga na Gaeilge. Go mórmhór, chuala mé Conradh na Gaeilge ag labhairt faoi seo. Ar an gcéad dul síos, cuirim fáilte bheag roimh an infheistíocht bhreise atá fógartha i mbuiséad 2026 do TG4, d'Údarás na Gaeltachta agus don phleanáil teanga ar fud na tíre. Is céim dhearfach í seo, ach caithfimid a bheith macánta freisin - níl an obair ach tosaithe. Tá géarchéim fós ann, go háirithe do phobail l…

Ní bheadh aon Ghaeltacht ann gan cainteoirí Gaeilge. Ní bheadh aon daoine in áiteanna ar a dtugtar "Gaeltacht" orthu gan tithe. Sin í an fhadhb. Cé go bhfuil níos mó daoine ag foghlaim agus ag labhairt na Gaeilge toisc scoileanna lánGhaeilge i mo Dháilcheantar, mar shampla, agus in áiteanna eile sna cathracha móra agus i mbailte ar fud na tíre - ach amháin sna Gaeltachtaí féin - níl mórán tithe ar fáil sna Gaeltachtaí. Mar a dúradh, aontaíodh 22 togra ar bhonn traspháirtí in 2022 ach tá an Rialtas ag fanacht go dtí…

The Tánaiste's party campaigned in the run up to the general election to review and remove the eight-year deemed disposal requirement for Irish domiciled funds and life products. As he will be aware - but, just for everyone else's benefit - the system taxes people 38% every eight years on gains they have not made yet. This was reduced slightly in the budget, but it is still regressive and in practice might be pushing ordinary savers into property investments when they could be funding worthwhile projects, especiall…

I am aware that GP training places have increased over the years but, as my colleagues said in the House, it has not matched the population increase. I come from a constituency that has a huge deficit of GP services, especially in rapidly growing strategic development zones, SDZs, areas like Adamstown and Clonburris, and in rapidly growing areas like Citywest and Saggart. While GPs historically have been self-motivated private operators, they have not got the assistance for the modern age. I am talking about buildi…

I had hoped to speak to the Taoiseach but he had to leave. Following up on an issue I raised with the Taoiseach on 27 January last, it appears that a lot of forensic psychiatrists in Ireland do not want to get involved in cases involving the killing of family members by loved ones. It appears to be related to calls for a review of processes and the whole uncertainty around that. This was reflected at a recent Central Criminal Court hearing where Mr. Justice Paul McDermott said there were serious deficiencies in obt…

There has been great frustration, as articulated by my colleagues, felt in communities across the country following the recent announced reviews of the special SNA allocations. That includes many schools in my constituency. One of the largest reductions was to be in St. Andrew's National School, but quite a few other schools were affected as well. Thankfully, that has been halted for now. The Government has repeatedly stated that the overall number of SNAs is increasing. In absolute terms, it is true that the natio…

The 2023 legislation introduced by the Government was a good first step but it needs to go further. Employers have to give a written reason they are refusing it if the right to request is used. However, in the Farrell v. Salesforce case in 2025, the WRC upheld a complaint because the employer did not respond within four weeks in terms of the deadline. The employee got €1,000 in compensation. It shows that the law has some effect. However, we need to go further because we are falling behind countries like Spain and …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I am aware the Minister, Deputy Naughton, cannot be here tonight and has indicated the same. I hope the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, will pass on my sentiments. I know he will have a prepared statement from the Minister. I will provide context for the Minister of State and to put it on the record. St. Mary's Boys' National School is a popular primary school in the old Lucan area with over 500 students. It was initially a small, traditional-type school and then in the 197…

As I said, I know the area very well. The consultants for the school pointed out that the entire site is within the riparian corridor. What the Department of education is proposing and what the school proposed are both within that. That, therefore, cannot be used as a viable excuse for not looking at an alternate site. The school is worried that the three ASD classes will be disjointed if two are at the front of the school and one is at the rear. Basically, in the context of value for money, money is being thrown d…

Looking at the bigger picture, in 30 years' time, in 2056, it is estimated that the sea level will have risen by up to half a metre, so we are talking about a lot of land along the coast that will be decimated no matter what we do, no matter how many Y-shaped concrete structures we put in. In terms of being strategic with that climate change risk, we have to look at certain areas that will have to be lost to the sea, like they have done on the east coast of Great Britain, and strategically retreat from certain area…

I also acknowledge the presence of the Canadian ambassador, H. E. Mr. King. On a personal level, I thank the Prime Minister of his country for the leadership he has shown at Davos and elsewhere in standing up to buffoonery and a lack of common sense internationally. In particular, I offer my condolences to his country, especially the families of those killed and injured at Tumbler Ridge. The specific matter I want to raise is hydrogen, but I want to talk about the broader picture first. From listening to a lot of t…

It is about using this time to try to keep the country on track in relation to the 2025 national hydrogen implementation plan and its 21 key objectives. For example, we are trying to get the potential routes to market for up to 2 GW of hydrogen production from offshore wind by 2030. I acknowledge the challenges in ramping up our offshore wind, but we already have excess capacity at peak times that cannot be used. If this were used, it could push energy prices down and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels further i…

The Taoiseach is probably aware of the Mosquito - an ultrasonic, high-frequency device that is designed to deter loitering teenagers. It emits a kind of buzzing sound that can only be heard by people under the age of 25. Use of this device seems to be increasing again. My understanding is that noise can be considered an assault under section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, so businesses should be careful about using it, although I am not sure if there have ever been any prosecutions. I woul…

I wanted to get onto the housing committee. I am not a member of the committee but I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill again and support the amendments that were tabled, which relate to reviews, reports and caps. I have already said that I support the Bill in principle and the concept behind it but what is being proposed raises so many questions and concerns that, as others have mentioned, it is hugely unlikely to do what it is intended to, unless the intention is purely to increase supply and increase …

There is no absolute clarity on whether a house would be deemed unsuitable because there might be, say, an extra child or a boy and girl and then all of a sudden there is overcrowding. The landlord can tick a box and they have an excuse to get them out and then look at ways they can increase their income. Those types of unknowns are very worrying. The one I mentioned on Second Stage was the mindset of landlords trying to find a way. They might think, “Sure I have a family member. We’ll try to get them into the hous…

I welcome this legislation that updates Coco's Law, which made it an offence to share or threaten to share intimate images without consent. Much has changed in recent years. At the time, the legislation did not explicitly criminalise the generation of a sexualised image of someone without consent, the creation of deep fake images, the manipulation of existing images to make them sexual, or - and this is a fundamental part of the Bill - the production of harmful images, even if they are never shared. I have to ask w…

I recently had a very engaging chat with students from the politics and society class in St. Joseph's College. It is a school the Tánaiste is very familiar with. They asked some very interesting questions, including one on Seanad reform and specifically about having more diverse voices and minority voices included, going beyond the Taoiseach's nominees to assist. I was thinking about that in the context of the Manning report which proposes having more of a democratic input from the public. We have seen the expansio…

It has been a year now since we last had statements on road safety, and in the interim, we have multiple vehicle-related deaths. In 2025, there were 185 fatalities recorded by the RSA - that is up 8% - comprising 76 drivers, 41 pedestrians, 30 motorcyclists, 21 passengers, 14 cyclists and three e-scooter users. There have been too many tragic deaths in the first five weeks of this year as well. My thoughts go out to the families and individuals involved in the bus incident today. More details will come out in due c…